Here's the next chapter for Requiem! Enjoy it! JCroe

"…"

"Huh?"

"…ma?"

"Eh?"

"Soma? Can you hear me," Yoko said as Soma awoke. He could tell that he was on his back. He saw Yoko kneeling over him, and Arikado and Julius standing behind her. Soma's mind was blank. He couldn't remember where he was or why he was there. Then it came flooding back to him.

"Mina!" he shouted, shooting upward. He suddenly felt very dizzy, falling to his knees.

"Don't try to move, Soma," Yoko told him. "We found you collapsed up here. How did you get up on this ledge in the first place?"

"Rahab," Soma replied. He looked around. Where did Death go, he thought.

Arikado came forward. "We have intelligence on this place, Soma." Soma looked at him questioningly. "This castle is identical to one owned by Serill Lowenthall. Except for the floating-over-the-ocean part. Serill is about your age, of wealthy ancestry, and generally out of the public eye. Not even ISDF knows much about her. However, that crest on the castle is most definitely the Lowenthall Crest."

"Does it look like I care? I'm here to rescue Mina, that's it," Soma said, glowering.

"Wait, Soma," Yoko said. "Did you say Rahab helped you get up here? The same Rahab that you fought in Celia Fortner's castle?"

"Yeah. I'd recognize that giant fish anywhere. I also met Death here."

Julius, who had been pacing, tripped upon hearing this. "You mean Death was here?" he questioned. "And you survived?"

"He didn't want to fight me, as strange as this sounds. He wanted to get in here, but there was a barrier that blocked outside spiritual bodies from getting in," Soma explained. Then, in a sudden realization, he began to laugh. "So that's what happened to me. I thought the barrier was rejecting me, but it was the souls of the monsters I've collected."

Arikado looked at him like he was crazy. "So you're saying that you're powerless right now. That's just wonderful," he said sarcastically.

Yoko slowly helped Soma to his feet. "What were you thinking, running off like that?" she scolded. "You almost died, too!"

Soma breathed a heavy sigh. Almost at once, something came flying at the congregation. Soma caught it, proving to himself that his reflexes hadn't failed him. It was a bone. Yoko made a retching sound. Soma's eyes darted to where the thing had come from. He spotted a pack of skeletons. "So the enemy reveals itself," he said.

"You want to handle this?" Arikado asked, eliciting a grin from Soma.

"I'm all over these guys," he growled, reaching for his weapon case. It wasn't there. It must have fallen in the water when Rahab slapped him. Soma sighed again. "Guess I'll have to do it the old fashioned way," he grumbled, pulling a knife out of his pocket, charging at the undead beasts. He slashed with the knife, severing one of the creature's skulls. It lunged at him, its claw-like fingertips stained with blood from some previous encounter. Soma punched its sternum, causing it to break into pieces. "One down." He did a sliding kick, taking out another two skeletons at the legs. They fell to the ground, shattering on impact. "Two, three," Soma continued. The last skeleton attacked him from behind. It slashed at Soma's back, ripping a hole in his new jacket, cutting into his skin. Though his previous adventures had toughened him up significantly, Soma definitely felt the cut. He cringed, but tried to shake off the pain. However, he just couldn't get over the hole. Infuriated, he screamed, "Mina just got me this new coat, you bastard!" He wheeled around, kicking the skeleton's neck, shattering its spine.

Rising from each of the skeletons was a small silver orb of light. They shot toward Soma, circling his body. They floated around him for a moment, shimmering between three different colors: red, blue and yellow. Yoko looked at them like they were the most beautiful things ever. Arikado and Julius thought differently. They rushed up to Soma, who hadn't really noticed the souls because he was tending to the tear in his jacket.

"Soma, look at the souls of these skeletons," Julius said quietly.

He turned to look at the souls, and was surprised to see that they were all three colors of his tactical souls. Just as a test, he envisioned the skeleton, morphing it in his mind into a sword. As he opened his eyes, he saw a bone in his hand. He closed his eyes again, turning the skeleton into a shield. Opening his eyes, he saw himself encompassed by a cage of bones, stemming from the back of his jacket. "Interesting," he murmured. "So the souls have evolved with their environment."

Julius spoke up, saying, "Alucard and I will go investigate the castle. Yoko, you should stay here and assist Soma wherever he needs it." This elicited a sort of pout from Yoko, but she swallowed her pride and didn't resist Julius' orders. Arikado glared at him for using his 'real' name, but he too swallowed his pride as he ran ahead.

"See you around, Soma, and be careful," Arikado said as he passed by Soma, disappearing into the darkness ahead. Julius followed close behind, simply nodding to Soma and Yoko.

"So, where should we start?" Yoko asked.

"For starters… we could follow them," Soma suggested, as the way that Arikado and Julius had taken was the only visible entrance. He glared into the darkness, walking side by side with Yoko. He only thought one thing. Somewhere in this place, Mina is waiting for me. I just hope I'm not too late. With these thoughts, he plunged into the dark entrance.